I never met the guy, or Pueno (I think). I tried and usually succeeded in not getting involved in the pissing match/thread killers. I don't watch the Ghostbusters shows on TV. But given his posting tenacity, I wouldn't be surprised if Brucie figures a way to post here from wherever his spirit landed. Stay tuned......

OK Pueno. Time to tell the story. Not that it ever mattered much but you told me and probably a few others so, spill it!_________________The Time a Person Spends Windsurfing is not Deducted from their Lifespan...
http://www.openocean.com

Several people have asked about my relationship with Mr. Swift and, specifically, why I persisted in busting his chops for years.

First, a disclaimer: I'm not a windsurfer and have never been one. A sailor, yes. This is something I've disclosed frequently here and elsewhere (I busted Brucie's chops on many forums), and it's a reason I generally left him alone on the technical forums -- unless I had something specific to add that might have been useful... or unless Brucie was being his normal pretentious, pompous, bombastic, abrasive self.

How did I first encounter this unusual guy?

Years back -- around '97, or so -- I participated on a Yahoo Finance forum for a company. The company was going under. Management squelched all internal communication, so employees jumped onto the finance forum to trade stories and share info.

Some guy using the alias "tycoonguy" (and who ALWAYS misspelled "prabably," "optain," "currput," "asnine," "futhermore," and other words) showed up and began viciously attacking posters (mostly employees) who were castigating the corrupt, thieving CEO -- the CEO was steering the company into bankruptcy. On that forum, people figured out that "tycoonguy" was someone named Robert Bruce Swift, Jr., and they deduced that Mr. Swift lived in Somerville, MA [at that time]. Mr. "Tycoonguy" Swift was downright vicious and vulgar in his constant, brutal minute-by-minute attacks.

I did a Google search using the aliases and misspelled words to find iWindsurf and other windsurfing forums, including cycling, ice skating, and so on. It should surprise nobody that Brucie was treated on those forums just as he was here. And on some of the European and Australian forums, Brucie was regularly eviscerated, yet he always bounced back for more.

On a Google forum, Brucie actually offered a reward to anyone who could supply him with my ID. I offered, but he wouldn't take the bait.

Back to the finance forumÖ someone suggested that "tycoonguy" was a shill, paid by corporate management to disrupt conversations that were denigrating to the crooked, lying CEO. While we had no proof, I and many others lost a few Yahoo aliases (because we bashed the CEO) while "tycoonguy" sailed on merrily for several years with his vulgar, vile minute-by-minute bashing and trashing of us. This lent credence to the claim that management approved of him (and thus likely paid him) while they complained to Yahoo about current and past employees who challenged the actions of the then-CEO.

In all the time we've traded jabs here, Brucie was fun. He and I often traded email and enjoyed a reasonably civil discourse. He was considerably more composed in his one-on-one conversations. We talked about car repairs, home repairs, ice hockey, sailing, and even the Cape Cod experience -- I grew up and worked within figurative spitting distance of him. In fact, I was married in the same church that held the memorial service for his late father. Our parents may have been acquaintances.

Those little factoids annoyed the hell outta Brucie. I was so close yet so far.

Anyway, rest in peace, Brucie. May the heavenly winds be forever at your back.

Thank you for the link to this thread Craig. I was unaware of his passing.

However Brucie came across, he did get pleasure out of windsurfing, albeit in his own special way, and presumably he experienced similar emotions and joys as the rest of us, as he ploughed his groove over the ocean.

His death is a bit of a shock. It just seems so final! All the memories, experience of life, knowledge and understanding gained, wiped out and gone for ever. It's difficult not to feel sad for him. R.I.P. Bruce.

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